Does entrepreneurship belong in the academy? Revisiting the idea of the university

Abstract

Academic entrepreneurship is a contentious university activity, but there is little engagement in the relevant literature with the idea of the university itself. References and assumptions about the role of universities in society are barely made explicit even though the centuries-old development of the idea of the university carries great insights. In this paper, we consider some of the deep tensions between instrumentalist and idealist views about the role of universities and argue that there is space for academic entrepreneurship, not merely as an add-on, but as an integral part of university activity. By formulating a research-oriented vision of academic entrepreneurship, we hope to guard the university from the dominance of other interests and goals and thus argue that an attractive form of academic entrepreneurship is possible.